The UN World Food Programme has warned that cuts to humanitarian aid are pushing millions of people in West and Central Africa deeper into hunger, based on the latest analysis from the Cadre Harmonisé food security framework. The assessment projects that more than three million people will face emergency levels of food insecurity this year, more than double the figure recorded in 2020, while an estimated 13 million children are expected to suffer from malnutrition.
The burden of food insecurity is heavily concentrated in Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger, which together account for 77 per cent of those affected. In Nigeria’s Borno state alone, around 15,000 people are at risk of catastrophic hunger for the first time in nearly a decade. While conflict, displacement and economic instability have long driven hunger in the region, sharp reductions in humanitarian funding are now pushing already vulnerable communities beyond their ability to cope.
WFP officials say funding reductions seen in 2025 have significantly worsened hunger and malnutrition across the region. As humanitarian needs continue to outpace available resources, the agency has warned that the risk of desperation among young people is rising, with potential long-term social and security consequences.
The impact of reduced assistance is already visible on the ground. In Mali, areas where families received reduced food rations have experienced a nearly 65 per cent increase in acute hunger since 2023, compared with a substantial decrease in communities that continued to receive full rations. Ongoing insecurity has also disrupted food supply lines to major cities, leaving around 1.5 million of the country’s most vulnerable people facing crisis levels of hunger.
In Nigeria, funding shortfalls forced WFP to scale back nutrition programmes last year, affecting more than 300,000 children. Since then, malnutrition levels in several northern states have deteriorated from serious to critical. The agency expects to reach only 72,000 people in February, a dramatic drop from the 1.3 million assisted during the 2025 lean season, while in Cameroon more than half a million vulnerable people risk being cut off from assistance altogether.
Despite these challenges, WFP highlighted that its programmes have demonstrated clear benefits when adequately funded, including improved food security through farmland rehabilitation, school meals, nutrition support and community resilience initiatives. The agency is calling for a fundamental shift in approach in 2026, urging governments and partners to invest more strongly in preparedness, anticipatory action and resilience-building so that communities can better withstand future shocks and break the cycle of hunger over the long term.
